Alyssa Silva
Each semester, a nursing student is awarded the Sam H. Odom Scholarship from the Sam H. Odom Foundation Trust and Tennessee Board of Regents, but this semester two students received the financial award. Alyssa Silva and Cassie Webb are both nursing students at Cleveland State and hard-working mothers with a passion for helping others. Each student received $1,000 for the Spring 2021 semester.
Ns, Silva is a Rhea county resident who grew up in Leesburg, Ga. watching her single mother take care of her grandparents who were battling an illness.
That’s how she found her career in helping others in need of care.
Ms. Silva stated, “I chose my major because I grew up watching my mom take care of both my grandparents during their time of illness. Unfortunately, my mom was unable to finish college due to their conditions. She continued to work full time, raise me and take care of them and their needs in the process. So, seeing this molded me into being a caregiver and helping people the best way I know how.”
Being a mother to a two-year old son motivates Ms. Silva to achieve her career goals. She plans to continue her work in critical care and would love to work for a local emergency department that will bring a different challenge to her nursing career. Ms. Silva plans to graduate from CSCC in the Spring of 2022 and continue her education to become a registered nurse.
“Of course, my son is a bit too young to understand what is going on, but nonetheless, it means so much that I will have the extra financial help to make his life better, as well as making my dream come true of becoming a RN.”
Ms. Webb hasn’t wasted any time and is already on the front lines as a firefighter and EMT-B with the Chattanooga Fire Department. The Hamilton county resident received her bachelor of science in exercise science pre med at UTC, but since the pandemic, she decided to return to school to pursue nursing.
Ms. Webb stated, “I've always enjoyed helping people and serving others within the community. The pandemic proved that we'll never know what life throws in our path or for how long, and nursing seemed like a great career choice when it comes to serving others in a time of need.”
As Ms. Webb fights fires and studies to pursue nursing, she’s also a mother to a two-year old son and is currently four months pregnant with her second child. This has not stopped her from pursuing her goals of graduating Cleveland State at the end of 2022.
“It has been a tough and rocky semester in regards to both instructors and students adjusting to learning online. I believe everyone did a good job though, and bared down and pushed through,” she said.
The Sam H. Odom scholarship was established in 2015 to provide scholarship funds to students who are enrolled in a Tennessee community college, pursuing an associate of applied science in nursing degree. Vickie Still, assistant professor of nursing at Cleveland State, taught Ms, Silva and Ms. Webb in the fundamentals of nursing course. She says it’s great to see students winning awards to help them with their future careers.
Ms. Still stated, “We are very pleased to have these students represent Cleveland State Nursing by winning this prestigious scholarship.”
Cassie Webb